The Kyubi's acknowledgement
by subtlerift
Summary: 6 months into the timeskip; Naruto & Jiraya need the help of a Hyuga to follow up a lead on Orochimaru and Sasuke, but a new enemy threatens to strip Naruto of the Kyubi's strength. Mostly canonical, focuses on Naru/Kyubi dynamic, and some mild NaruNina.
1. Prelude

Jiraya paused for a moment to catch his breath and scan the surroundings for pursuers. He doubted that they would risk encroaching this far into the land of fire and Konoha's jurisdiction, but he'd thought the same when they'd left the rice country and didn't want to make the same mistake twice. Apart from anything else, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain an air of superiority over Naruto – the young ninja had no implicit recognition of authority, an attitude that would have caused him a lot more trouble if it hadn't been for Naruto's unique situation.

Naruto landed on the branch beside him displaying his usual mix of single-minded determination and impatience. His lips were parted to reveal clenched teeth, but he didn't seem at all out of breath.

Naruto shook himself out of the moment and smiled.

"Don't worry, we're not being followed," he said jovially, referring to his sensei's previous mistake. Jiraya didn't know if he was bluffing or if he'd actually sensed the enemy fall back. Either was possible – while for the most part Naruto was foolishly impulsive and only survived through luck and the astonishing regenerative power that playing host to the kyuubi provided him, when Sasuke was concerned Naruto was a different shinobi and could be unusually perceptive. He considered reminding Naruto to be respectful – pushing him off the branch into the dense foliage below should do the trick – but settled for merely berating him instead.

"Like you have a clue," he jibed "you don't even know why they followed us this far." Jiraya assumed they were pursuing him, since as far as he knew Orochimaru had interest in neither Naruto nor the Kyuubi, but unless it was a simple warning to stay away from their affairs, he didn't know why they kept at the chase for so long. Jiraya couldn't help but smirk at his old friend's obsession with amassing laboratories, prisons, and the network of secret bases that their upkeep required. It was much easier to keep your affairs private when you carried everything around with you.

Naruto's impatience got the better of him and he leapt onwards, snapping the branch that Jiraya was still standing on with the force he'd exerted. Jiraya, cursing Naruto's apparent obliviousness to his affect on the world around him, caught the trunk of the tree in time, and after casting a final glance behind them, set off as well.

The thought of returning to Konoha had clearly dispelled the dark mood that had been plaguing Naruto since their aborted attempt at confronting Sasuke. Though Naruto continued to insist they'd been attempting to "rescue" him, Jiraya remained undecided about the best position to take. Sasuke's possession of the Sharingan and relationship to Naruto complicated the matter – things would be much simpler if they could apply a blanket assassination order to all missing-nin.

"I wonder if Neji's a chunin yet," thought Naruto out loud. After hearing of the resentment Naruto had felt during the Chunin exams, Jiraya had initially been apprehensive about suggesting that they recruit the young Hyuga to help them navigate the warrant of caves that stood between Orochimaru's latest hideout and the outside world, but Naruto had a limitless capacity to accept and acknowledge when people had grown and changed, and had embraced the suggestion that Neji join their team.

The terrain had been becoming increasingly familiar throughout the day and as they crested a hill, Konoha revealed itself, nestled in the shadow of the hokage monument. Naruto's eyes lit up, his excitement manifesting itself as redoubled speed. Jiraya couldn't help but empathise – it would be nice to return to the closest thing he had to a home, and it was comforting knowing where Tsunade was for once.

Naruto had gained a sizable lead, and Jiraya struggled to keep up. They would reach the gates by nightfall.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note; feel free to skip. This chapter contains the bulk of the NaruHina. I'd always planned to write it like this, but when I actually sat down to do so, I had second thoughts. Does it actually add anything to the story, or is it just there because I want it to be? I take a very canonical approach (which is in part why I didn't go into Naruto's thoughts much – I don't want to deal with the issue of how much of Hinata's feelings are reciprocated) and so I wasn't sure if it was necessary to spell out how Naruto and Hinata feel about each other. In the end I decided it was necessary since firstly readers aren't going to know it's canon style unless I explain, and secondly I'm writing this as a warm up to an original story, and it can't hurt to practice.

For those who came here for the NaruHina, you may want to bail after this chapter, or perhaps even now. For everybody else – adventure begins soon, and the relationship between them (not necessarily romantic) will be important for the plot later.

* * *

Tsunade and Naruto exchanged the kind of stares that normally heralds violent death; the former because nothing else got through to Naruto, and the latter because he didn't know any better. Despite it being so early in the morning, frustration threatened to overwhelm Naruto, as not only had the Hokage refused to reassign Neji, who was indeed now a chunin, to their team from what she claimed were more important missions, but also failed to acknowledge the sheer necessity of their mission.

"Hey! Even Jiraya said we need somebody with the Byakugan to find a way through the caves. How am I supposed to bring Sasuke back if you won't send Neji with us?" Naruto yelled, virtually climbing over the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade remained calm – Naruto would be within fist range soon enough. "Firstly, you're not supposed to bring Sasuke back – you're supposed to follow whatever orders best serve the village," Tsunade explained, choosing to ignore whatever it was he muttered under his breath. "Secondly, if you would be quite for even one moment, you would know that Shizune has found you a new team member."

Naruto and Jiraya turned to Shizune, who had been trying to remain out of harms way. "I don't think this mission warrants sending a chunin" Shizune began, glancing at Naruto, "but there are several gennin who are available." Opening the folder that had been tucked under her arm, she passed Naruto a sheet of paper.

"Hinata?" Naruto said quietly, mentally shifting into reverse. "Alright! Thanks!" he yelled, darting past Shizune and out through the window so fast she almost perceived a Doppler shift. Shizune was clearly exasperated by his lack of etiquette, and looked to the two sannin for agreement, but found Tsunade undisturbed, and Jiraya openly grinning. Jiraya moved closer to Tsunade's desk, and Shizune, sensing Jiraya's impending lack of tack, took her cue and left hastily.

* * *

Naruto walked dejectedly through the streets of Konoha, his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. It'd been two hours, and he'd failed to find Hinata, or indeed any of the friends he'd been hoping to meet. When he'd left Konoha to train with Jiraya six months previously, he'd felt a certain attraction to the nomadic hermit lifestyle that the sannin had told him to expect. He'd been surprised by just how much he'd missed the various fellow shinobi he'd befriending in the preceding years, as though he'd frequently been alone, he'd never been a loner.

He'd met Asuma and Kurenai, but he'd never been particularly close to either of them – they where generally less forgiving of his impulsive nature – and while Kurenai had promised to let Hinata know he was looking for her, neither of them had known where she was, and had only frowned when he'd suggested they help him look.

By this point Naruto was getting hungry, a consequence of his high metabolism, and looking up found he'd subconsciously walked to Ichiraku's. His initial delight soon faded, after a quick pat down of his pockets revealed his lack of funds. He considered trying to explain to Teuchi how imperative it was that he rescue Sasuke, and how a large lunch was an integral part of this, but decided that the noodle bar owner would be even less likely to empathise that Tsunade – Sasuke had never been a frequent patron. Naruto thought about the Third. At the time he hadn't appreciated how the will of fire that the departed Hokage had managed to work into almost every conversation influenced the village, but the thought that it could potentially be applied to yield free ramen brought new clarity. After posting a mental note to his subconscious that in future food would require a sponsor, he set off to find Iruka.

* * *

Iruka had been delighted to see Naruto after six months of absence, and had quickly picked up on his former students massively unsubtle hints that he was hungry. Naruto had been eager to demonstrate his new skills, and it was only the promise of a free meal that had kept him from debuting them on the unsuspecting crowded market street. Iruka felt vaguely guilty that he'd been relieved to see Naruto had lost none of his impatient need to seek acknowledgement for his improvement. Most of the other's from his age group were starting to mature onto professional shinobi, but Naruto remained Naruto.

They neared the ramen bar, and found Kurenai waiting for them.

"I found Hinata."

* * *

Hinata took a breather from striking the training post. Though her hand was well bandaged, taijutsu was not her forte, and her knuckles were beginning to ache. Focusing her chakra, she activated her Byakugan; Kurenai had alerted her to Naruto's impromptu return, and she wanted to take the opportunity to be "discovered" training intensively. She didn't have to extend her vision far – Naruto was approaching quickly and was already well within her visual range, despite it being only moments since she last searched the surrounding forests for him.

Forcing her breathing to remain steady, she struck a posture borrowed from Neji and her father and began striking the post again. She was grateful for Naruto's impressive speed, when he emerged from the tree line after mercifully few arm jarring strikes. Allowing her Byakugan to deactivate, she pretended not to have noticed his arrival, and attacked the post with renewed vigour.

Naruto was almost upon her when she realised she had yet to decide what she was going to say to him. Naruto could be very unpredictable, and it was so difficult to know how he'd react to her. She considered greeting him with a hug – it'd been six months since she'd watched him boldly depart from the village, so perhaps she could get away with it without it seeming too obvious. The though of such intimacy with Naruto overwhelmed her with its intensity, further limiting her capacity to articulate how she felt. She and Naruto had spent so little time together that is was difficult to know exactly how their relationship was defined.

Gradually it dawned on her that Naruto had long since closed the distance between the two of them, and had been talking for some time. Panic set in, and unable to decide on a more appropriate course of action, Hinata resigned herself to continuing to feign ignorance of his presence, and resolutely continued to strike the training post.

Mortified by her own behaviour, things took a turn for the worse when Naruto trailed off mid-sentence, staring intensely at Hinata, clearly wondering why she had yet to speak. It occurred to Hinata that more that anything, Naruto craved acknowledgement, and here she was literally refusing to acknowledge his existence. She forced herself to halt her assault on the post and turn to Naruto. He continued to stare at her, head to one side, one eye slightly closed, as if trying to figure out her behaviour.

"Hello Naruto! I'm sorry about that, I just got so caught up in training I didn't notice you there. I can't believe you're back, I thought you were going for years, but I'm glad you are, I miss you being around." she considered saying, but settled on "Naruto. Sorry. Training. Hello."

Naruto stared for a moment longer before visibly relaxing. "Don't worry Hinata, I get lost in training too. Jiraya has me training fourteen hours a day, while he does 'research'". When Hinata failed to respond, he continued, "Uh, so we can't leave until tomorrow, so Kurenai said I could use my shadow clone jutsu to help you train?"

Hinata was on safer ground with this one - perhaps not safe enough to articulate a full sentence, but enough to manage a faultless nod. Naruto was already running for the tree line, and didn't hear her calling after him.

"Um, Naruto? What do you mean leaving?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Hinata stood alone in the woods. She activated her Byakugan, and Naruto abandoned trying to stay hidden – he shouted a challenge, and a plethora of clones emerged from behind every bush and every tree and took to the air. Fists extended, they encircled a more determined Hinata, who focused her chakra into her hands and adopted the stance from before.

* * *

While Naruto had long since stopped panting, he was now forced to acknowledge the intense hunger that the excitement of training had pushed from his mind. He was about to insist the two set off toward the village in search of food, when he noticed that Hinata was still slightly out of breath, and sat back down. He'd been hungry before, but a missed lunch and several hours of training was the final straw for Naruto's stomach, and it betrayed him, acting on its own to alert Hinata to its present empty state with an improbably loud medley or rumbles and gurgles. Naruto grinned, clearly embarrassed.

"Naruto, I could buy you some Raman." Hinata offered. When he looked unsure, she continued "It's the least I can do to thank you for helping me with my training."

* * *

Naruto and Hinata sat at Ichiraku's. Hinata had managed to avoid freezing up for the most part, but had been unable to move the conversation beyond idle chitchat. Naruto could be so intense at times – it was part of what she liked about him – but it was either off or on, and she struggled to find a way to connect with him. She felt uncomfortable bringing up the subject, but desperate times…

"So, Naruto, tell me about the lead on Sasuke." Naruto stopped eating.

"One of Jiraya's contacts from the sand village told us where he'd heard Orochimaru was. I don't know how he knew, but we went to investigate. The base was in a system of caves, and uh, we got lost in them." Naruto trailed off, but Hinata was looking at him to continue. "We ran into some sound ninja," Naruto tensed up with the memory "and only just escaped."

Hinata was worried – if they'd been out-fought, was she being brought along to even the odds?

"I'm surprised anybody could chase you away" Hinata began out of loyalty, but before she could continue, Naruto interrupted.

"Well I hadn't eaten for four days!" Hinata hadn't quite realised what 'lost' had meant. "So we came back here to fetch you to help us find a way through the caves." Hinata glowed with pride that Naruto had come back specifically for her.

Relieved that her fighting skills wouldn't be relied on, she was grateful for the chance to support Naruto.

"I'll help you. I'll help you bring Sasuke back." She said quietly, reaching for his arm, but stopping when he turned to her. He didn't say anything, but was clearly touched.

The talk moved to other subjects – Naruto wanted to make sure Hinata remembered that he'd beaten Neji in a fight, and while he was on the subject of people he'd defected…

Hinata let him talk. It was comforting to see Naruto so relaxed around her, but all too soon Naruto drained his bowl and declared himself full. Hinata paid, and they said goodnight.

* * *

As Hinata walked away, an enormous grin on her face, she realised that Kurenai was leaning against the wall not far ahead. Her sensei looked up and smiled.

"Well, how did it go?" she asked.

Hinata nodded. "I took your advice, and it went just like you said."

* * *

Ok, that really didn't qualify as romance. I'm going to try and work a little more into this chapter later, but it'll need to be done bit by bit, so I'll post this and move on for the time being. Who knew this writing thing took so long? Nothing's actually happened yet. Allow me to summarise. Chapter 1: Naruto runs through the woods; sees trees and Konoha. Charter 2: Naruto sees more of Konoha, also Hinata, then eats some ramen. Not exactly gripping. You're going to have to take it one trust that I have bad guys, and y'know, things actually happening, all planned out. 


	3. Chapter 3

In a bold departure from my previous writing style, after reading the reviews of the last chapter, I went through my draft of this chapter, and replaced all the page breaks with plot. Enjoy.

* * *

Team Rescue Sasuke moved silently from tree to tree, accompanied by Jiraya and Hinata, who despite being on the same mission had declined from joining Naruto's one-man team. Though tensions were running high, all three ninja were inwardly excited. Jiraya was optimistic about observing the results of his training of Naruto, Hinata's recurrent fantasies of having Naruto observe her perform competently, or maybe even slightly better than competently, had progressed to the point of inhibiting the last semblances of her ability to talk, while Naruto had yet to consider the possibility that the mission might end with any result other than Sasuke's unmitigated defeat at his hands and his subsequent return to Konoha and rehabilitation, while Naruto himself earned the recognition of the entire village, and quickly progressed to becoming the Hokage.

Hinata were so lost in thought that she almost failed to notice Jiraya standing motionless ahead gesturing for them to stop. Naruto however, continued undeterred, wondering about what his appointment ceremony would be like, until it finally occurred to him that the branch he'd intended to land on was no longer moving forward to meet him. Jiraya released his collar, and Naruto fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"We're here," he whispered to Hinata, before stepping off the branch and landing beside Naruto. Now that the mission proper was about to start, Hinata realised how anxious she really was, and took a moment to try and ready herself. Below her, Jiraya had opened Naruto's rucksack, and pulled out a blank scroll. He gestured for the kunoichi to join them. She took several deep breaths and dropped down beside them.

"Hinata, the entrance the cave system is up ahead. I want you to use your Byakugan to try and map as much of the layout as you can see." Hinata nodded, glad to have a simple task she knew she could handle without fear of failure. She focused her chakra and activated her kekkei genkai.

The opening was easy to find – a narrow gully that seemed to be a dried up riverbed was barely fifty meters ahead. Downhill it slowly broadened out and became shallower, before joining with another riverbed, this one host to fast flowing turbulent rapids, while uphill it became narrower and more overgrown, before disappearing entirely into the hillside.

"I've found the cave" she relayed. Intensifying her gaze, she bored through the rock into the cave system beyond. The tunnel branched extensively, and she had trouble keeping track of which branches she'd traced and which she had yet to, so she began sketching a rough map on the scroll, her Byakugan allowing her to draw accurately and consult her own drawing without having to shift her gaze from the caves. The other's watched her intently, trying to remember where they'd gotten lost during their previous visit. After discovering and mapping several dozen dead ends, her pace began to slow. It was becoming harder and harder to see through the dense rock at such a distance, but there were still almost twenty untraced passages, and she was at the very limit of her range. Suddenly and idea occurred to her. "I can't see any further," she announced, "but I think I know which way to go."

This caught the others attentions, and even though she was primarily focused on the cave system, with her Byakugan active she could still see Naruto staring intently at her. "There's one tunnel that's lined with silt. I think it's the original route of the river. All of the other passages are lined with sand and the rocks aren't as smooth either, I think they were made by hand rather than water." She highlighted the path of one of the tunnels through the warren from the cave opening up to one of the open ends at the limit of her vision. "If this is the old riverbed, then we know it can't lead to a dead end." Jiraya seemed satisfied with this reasoning, while Naruto was clearly ecstatic.

"Alright!" he whispered, picking up the map and apparently claiming it as his own. "With Hinata with us, we'll defiantly find Sasuke." Hinata glowed bright red, hoping that Naruto's confidence in her wouldn't be misplaced. Naruto leapt to his feat and shouldered his backpack, preparing to rush straight in, but Jiraya remembered the previous incident and asked Hinata to scan the proposed route for traps or enemy ninja.

Buoyed by Naruto's faith in her abilities, Hinata reprimanded him. "I've been checking the whole time I was making the map. I would have said if there'd been anything like that." A sly glance at Naruto suggested that he approved of people not putting up with his sensei.

Frustrated that apparently none of the village's youth respected him, Jiraya sheepishly suggested they progress towards the caves.

Once inside the light quickly faded. Hinata led the way, her Byakugan allowing her easily navigate through the uneven passage, scanning for traps as she went, while with only the flickering light of their candles to guide them, Jiraya and Naruto were able to do little more than follow without tripping over. Progress was slow and after an hour they were still only half way towards the periphery of Hinata's map. They stopped to rest, and Hinata took the opportunity to extend the map.

"The former river bed splits into two up ahead" she announced, demonstrating on the map. To her delight, after Jiraya considered this development, he announced that he would take the extended map and follow one route, while she and Naruto would continue down the other. The prospect of being alone with Naruto threatened to overwhelm her, and several times during the next few hours Jiraya had to call her back after she absentmindedly got too far ahead.

Several hours later they reached the fork. By this point, the extended use of her Byakugan had fatigued Hinata, and she had long since resorted to navigating by candlelight.

"Stay focused" Jiraya warned them, as he departed. Though he'd been referring to Naruto's tendency to allow the fox to overwhelm him, Hinata misinterpreted it as being directed at her, and began to feel guilty for seeing the mission as an opportunity to get closer to Naruto. She resolved to concentrate on the task at hand.

The two of them set off down the other passage. More time passed. Without the sun to guide them, neither of them had any idea what time of day it was. The tunnel was changing, widening into a large cleft in the rock, and eventually they came to an enormous underground cavern. Small fires burning in metal brackets dotted around the floor partially illuminated the area, revealing a row of low buildings set into rock on the far side of the cave. With no wind to disturb it, the smoke from the fires rose in tight vertical columns that disappeared into the darkness.

Naruto noticed Hinata bring her hands up in front of her, two fingers extended, and guessed that she was about to activate her Byakugan.

"Hinata, wait. You've used up too much chakra already. I'll take care of this." Naruto brought his own hands up, fingers crossed. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Five Narutos burst into existence, nodded their agreement, and ran towards the buildings. They'd barely covered half the distance when shuriken materialised from a shadowy doorway, dispelling the unprepared clones. Naruto and Hinata gasped, suddenly feeling exposed standing in the middle of the cavern with little in the way of cover.

A shinobi stepped slowly out of the doorway, and casually leaned against the wall. "So, you came back." Naruto's first impression was of an animated skeleton; the man was taller than Kakashi, but disturbingly thin. His loose fitting black kimono parted to reveal protruding ribs, and either he had painted his face or was suffering from some illness, because his skin was deathly white except for around the eyes where it was black. Studying him further, Naruto noticed a sound village headband, and a large tattoo on his chest, that looked like a seal.

"Is this one of the Ninja who chased you?" asked Hinata, hoping she didn't sound too much like a mother asking her child about playground bullies. Naruto shook his head.

The enemy answered for him. "I believe our associates are taking the opportunity to get to know one another," he said calmly. Naruto considered this - there'd been three ninja who'd chased them back to Konoha, which meant his sensei was now in at least a three on one battle – but wasn't overly concerned. Jiraya wasn't called legendary for nothing.

"I am Shinaryuto. You are the Qyubi's host for at least the time being, are you not?" he continued. Naruto only growled. Shinaryuto dismissed him with a wave of his hand, before shifting his focus to Hinata. "I don't know you and consequently I have no interest in you. I suggest you leave now." Hinata moved closer to Naruto, and began to speak, but Naruto cut her off.

"Where's Sasuke?" he growled.

"Orochimaru's next host? He's around. But I doubt he's interested in my little experiment." This was too much for Naruto.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he chanted. Suddenly the floor of the cave was lined with a carpet of Naruto. More than the floor, it extended well up the walls, occupying all the visible space save for small islands around the fire brackets.

Shinaryuto seemed unimpressed. "You know, I really am not a good opponent for you. Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" An army of Shinaryuto appeared, forming a rough semicircle against the buildings, with the real one at the canter. Though the prevailing darkness and their black kimonos made it difficult to tell how many there were, there were clearly far fewer in number than the Naruto Clones. Hinata, who had now activated her Byakugan, estimated about 100.

A sea of orange moved to encircle the enemy, who seemed unconcerned. A tense moment passed, before the Naruto clones reached an unspoken consensus and simultaneously charged.


	4. Chapter 4

The army of Narutos descended on the phalanx of Shinaryutos. Blows were exchanged, and Naruto's first wave was completely dispelled, achieving only two or three hits against the opposition. A few clones from the centre of Shinaryuto's semicircle stepped forwards to fill the gaps in time to meet Naruto's undeterred second wave, which shared a similar fate to the first. Both sides fought hand to hand - against clones there was no need for the extra damage a kunai could cause – but Shinaryuto was by far the most skilled taijutsu user.

Naruto was becoming more and more frustrated by his opponent's unconcerned attitude. It reminded him of Itachi, which only aggravated him further. He began sending his clones in more and more recklessly, only to meet the same fate. Naruto was used to being the underdog in fights, but it cut him up inside to be beaten with shadow clones – what he perceived as his own jutsu. Shinaryuto's clones kept to a tight semicircle, while Naruto's launched themselves forwards – fist, foot, elbow, knee, forehead, and once accidentally ear first - with no coordination or though for preservation, falling into Shinaryuto's wall of gracefully executed kicks and punches.

Eventually Naruto realised he was running low on clones. Frustration threatened to overwhelm him – he could feel the fox's influence working its way into his mind. He looked across the cavern at Shinaryuto who was calmly waiting with almost all of his original clones to see what Naruto's next move would be.

"Bastard" escaped from between clenched teeth. Bloodlust began to overcome him, and he realised how good it would feel to beat Shinaryuto into a pulp. He subconsciously lowered his stance, and began drawing chakra for a sudden bust of speed when a small voice stopped him.

"Naruto. I… I… I could fight him. It's my turn, and with the Byakugan I might be better at fighting his clones," Hinata said, in almost a whisper. Naruto gazed back into her eyes – her worried expression, her nervously twiddling fingers, and the fierce determination in her eyes – and found himself much calmer. He smiled at her, causing her to break eye contact and shatter the moment. He had no doubt that Hinata could deal with Shinaryuto clones – he'd seen her fight Neji and knew that between her Byakugan and her ever growing talent with the gentle fist style she was not the shy unobtrusive girl he'd thought her when they first met – but he felt a familiar feeling rising within him; the desire to protect his friends.

Naruto turned back to Shinaryuto. He was still frustrated, but this time it was directed inwardly for allowing himself to be drawn in like that. He remembered Jiraya's advice, and it finally occurred to him to consider a better strategy than simply pouring shadow clones on the problem. He thought about the few of Shinaryuto's clones that he had managed to dispel, and nodded to himself.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Though there were only about half as many as his previous execution, they still outnumbered Shinaryuto's by a significant ratio. This time, however, they approached with more caution, and formed themselves into ad hoc groups of four or five. The groups attacked one by one – though each group was massively outnumbered by Shinaryuto's clones, they were also unencumbered by fellow Naruto clones tripping over each other to reach the battle, and so were able to enact a simple tacit; each group launched itself at only one of Shinaryuto's clones. Though the Shinaryuto clones still had by far the greater taijutsu prowess, they were unable to bring more than two or three of them to bear on the tight ball of oncoming Narutos, and though Naruto lost the whole group in the process, the groups managed to hit their targets almost every time.

Naruto was loosing clones five times as fast as Shinaryuto, but this didn't concern him; he could create more effortlessly. The real Naruto looked across the cavern at the battle, and though for a moment he could see Shinaryuto worriedly giving orders to his rapidly shrinking group. He smiled and turned to see if Hinata had noticed how cleaver he was.

Naruto had to replenish his clones twice before finally Shinaryuto had barely enough clones to maintain the semicircle, becoming increasingly excited at the success of his plan throughout. The smile left his face when Shinaryuto, down to his last dozen clones, simply created more of his own too. His disappointment lasted only a moment; if this was a battle to see who could create the most shadow clones, then even if he had to create five times as many, Naruto knew he could win. He formed the hand sign, and once again filled the cavern with clones.

Shinaryuto did not simple wait for them to attack as before. Taking advantage of the extra space they had now the Naruto's weren't all piling in, the outer row of Shinaryuto clones began advancing, leaving Shinaryuto himself with a guard of about seventy. But he didn't stop there; hiding behind the walls of clones, he began forming a string of hand signs. Hinata tried to alert Naruto to a large build up of chakra, but Shinaryuto had already completed the jutsu.

"Ninja art: sealing. Composite Clone Formation!" The area around was enveloped in smoke. Naruto and Hinata tried to see what was happening, but could only catch glimpses through the smoke. Naruto thought he saw clones disappearing, while Hinata could see chakra flowing into the tattoos on the clones' chests.

The smoke quickly cleared. Only four Shinaryutos remained – the original and three clones. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, but neither had any idea what had happened. Naruto's clones had also stopped fighting and were waiting to see what would happen next.

The outer wave of Shinaryuto clones fell back, and the three inner clones stepped forwards. The Naruto army braced itself. The Shinaryuto clones burst forwards from the semicircle in different directions, and tore into the Naruto clones. Suddenly the battle was different – Naruto's clones weren't even able to slow Shinaryuto's down, and they charged through the defenceless crowd tracing arcs towards Hinata and the real Naruto. Naruto's clones were being dispelled quite literally left, right and centre. With all the commotion, and smoke from the dozens of dispelled Naruto's it was impossible to see what was happening, but Naruto was convinced that he'd managed to land several blows, and yet the clones were still coming!

The two Konoha shinobi were becoming visibly more shaken and confused, and they tried to understand how this could be happening. Shinaryuto clones must be real and not illusions or they couldn't have cut a swathe through Naruto's clones like that, but if they were clones, why couldn't they be dispelled? And how were they seemingly so much more proficient at taijutsu?

The central Shinaryuto clone decided he was within range and leapt into the air, quickly followed by several of Naruto's clones, who jumped up to challenge him. Naruto and Hinata exchanged nervous glances and drew kunai. The first Shinaryuto clone cut straight through the airborne Narutos, and landed between the real one and Hinata, swinging a tanto at Naruto's throat even before his feat had touched the ground. Naruto leaned backwards and just barely managed to keep out of range, while the clone allowed the momentum of his strike to turn around in time to deftly parry Hinata's oncoming kunai. Now it was Naruto's turn to attack from behind, but he was still off balance from his lunge backwards, and before he could right himself the enemy clone landed a backwards kick square on his chest and sent him flying across the cavern where he was caught by his own clones, leaving Hinata to deal with him alone.

Naruto leapt to his feat, intent on rushing to Hinata's aid, but before he could reach her, the other two Shinaryuto clones landed between him and Hinata. Naruto looked past them at her battle – both Hinata and the Shinaryuto clone had abandoned their weapons and were fighting hand to hand, and with Naruto's clones rushing in suicidally to help distract the clone, she was managing to hold her own. He turned his attention to the two in front of him.

He nodded at the surrounding Naruto clones, who formed into groups again. The first group charged in eagerly, but were easily cut down. The second group, attacking from behind, fared better. Four of them surrounded a central one, suffered a rain of blows but stayed together long enough to deliver the fifth, fist first, into the face of one of Shinaryuto clones. The fist connected, hard. The other Shinaryuto quickly dispatched the offending Naruto, while the injured one fell backwards and hit the ground heavily. He had a stunned look on his face as the familiar sound of a clone dispelling reached Naruto's ears, and the clone was hidden in a cloud of smoke.

Time slowed down as Naruto watched as the smoke cleared. The ground where the clone had fallen was bare, but as the smoke rose, Naruto saw a pair of feet. Naruto gasped – the fallen clone was standing right in front of him, unfazed, unharmed and with the now familiar look of contempt on his pale face.


	5. Chapter 5

Jiraya nodded his satisfaction, and sat down on a makeshift bench composed of unconscious sound ninja. Now, where did he put the map?

* * *

Naruto needed time to think. His clones were almost useless to him now, so he had them all dive in to the fight to keep some distance between him and the inexplicable Shinaryuto clones. They continued to prove ineffective, and were being dispelled as quickly as they could run in, but it would buy him some time. He looked over at Hinata. Through their training only a few days ago they'd re-established that her gentle fist style was more than adequate to disrupt shadow clones – not surprising considering they were constructs of chakra – but still she was faced with the same problem; despite landing a series of gracefully executed strikes, each time she received only a cloud of smoke and the distinctive pop for her efforts.

Hinata was struggling to match her opponent's intensity. Her fighting style was well suited to close combat like this, but it relied too heavily on discharging chakra with each strike and keeping her Byakugan active, both of which were becoming increasingly difficult after the extensive use of her Byakugan earlier that day. She tried to increase the distance between them while she analysed the situation. Powerful strikes at the limits of her capabilities, targeted at the chakra points incorporated into the elaborate circular tattoo on Shinaryuto's chest had failed to halt the apparent regeneration of the clone, and she was at a loss as to what to do next. She looked across at Naruto, and found he was already returning her gaze, standing a little way out for the melee of clones piled around his two opponents. As she watched, one of them burst free, and hoping from blond head to blond head came at Naruto, who only stood there like a rabbit caught in headlights. She tried to call out to him, but it was too late; a small scream escaped from her lips, as Shinaryuto's tanto embedded itself through Naruto's shoulder. She was about to run to him when she caught sight of a palm heading towards her face. Dodging with only a hair's breadth to spare, she landed a chakra strike on the extended wrist.

Naruto's chin was on his chest, as he started dumbly at the knife hilt protruding from his shoulder. A moment passed, and suddenly life seemed to return to him. His head snapped up, and he fixed has assailant with a stare few could meet – piercing blue eyes filled with determination, offset with a smile that said 'I have you now'. As he burst into smoke, the sacrificial clone could see a pair of Naruto's forming the rasengan.

With his partner still embroiled in a shapeless heap of orange, the dumbfounded Shinaryuto clone didn't even have time to turn around, as Naruto drove the rasengan into the small of his back from point blank range. The familiar popping noise began, and continued unabated, emanating from an ever-growing cloud of smoke. Engulfed within it, Naruto maintained the rasengan, seeing the silhouette of his opponent flicker and writhe in front of him.

Eventually there was silence. The smoke dispersed, leaving Naruto standing alone. But there was no time to revel in victory; behind him the other enemy swung his tanto in an enormous arc, finishing off the last wave of Narutos. Naruto turned to face him with a new sense of determination displayed in his stance.

"You're not so tough" he boasted, feeling better now he'd figured out how to destroy them.

"So, you figured it out then? You realised that I sealed all my clones inside each other, and that destroying one only released the clone inside it?" shouted the real Shinaryuto from across the cave, as the remaining clone prepared to engage Naruto.

"Of coarse" Naruto lied.

"And so you used a jutsu that could damage clones as fast as they were released. You're not as stupid as I thought. What was your name? Naruto?"

Naruto considered taking this as invitation to divulge his dreams of becoming Hokage, but decided against it when he realised Hinata was still fighting. He drew a kunai and leapt at the clone.

Hinata meanwhile had reached her limit. She'd struck her opponent over a dozen times, and had yet to gain any advantage, but witnessing Naruto's defeat of one of the clones gave her a boost. She waited for an opening, and summoning all her available chakra, lunged forwards. Something was wrong; her opponent made no attempt to block or avoid the strike – quite the opposite in fact. He stepped forwards, and with his arms by his side, took the jab straight to the heart. Hinata had hit him from closer range than she'd intended, and as clone dispelled her momentum continued to drag her forwards. She watched horrified as the chakra being released from the latest clone's sealing tattoo formed into the next clone, and calmly took hold of her outstretched wrist.

Suddenly, it was all over. She tasted dirt as her face was pushed into the ground, her shoulder ablaze with agony, twisted so her hand was behind her neck. She tried to ignore the pain and wriggle free, but she could feel her opponent's knee between her shoulder blades pinning her down. She was dimly aware of Naruto shouting her name, but exhaustion was overwhelming her, and suddenly the world was at too great a distance.

Naruto watched helplessly as the clone Hinata had been fighting picked up her unconscious form, and slung it over his shoulder. His fight was not going well – he knew that the enemy could be defeated, but after witnessing the fate of his comrade his remaining opponent was more wary, and had yet to offer Naruto the opportunity to utilise the rasengan again. Naruto was sporting a multitude of small cuts and panting heavily, but his eyes were on fire.

"Put her down!" he screamed. The clone carrying Hinata reached the original Shinaryuto, and after checking to make sure Naruto was watching, dropped her face first to the ground. This was too much for Naruto, and one thought seared in his mind. He had to save Hinata. He could feel himself becoming angrier and angrier, the rage itself tearing down the walls within his mind and bringing with it power. Suddenly he was standing before the bars imprisoning the nine-tails. The fox's form slowly became visible – demonic eyes first, followed by the smile to match. Naruto, oblivious to how small he was compared to the beast before him, never broke the fox's gaze.

"Now" he whispered. It was all that was necessary. The fox could never be intimidated into giving up its strength, but eyeing up the boy before him he acknowledged that neither would his young host ever back down.

"Let's show them our strength," he laughed, without breaking eye contact.

Naruto was back in the cavern. One of Shinaryuto's clones was approaching from the left, the other from in front. He waited, not moving and yet far from motionless, his body tense, and quivering with the power it barely contained. He ground his teeth, and tasted blood. The clone on his left was closer than he could tolerate and he turned his head to meet him.

Though Shinaryuto was apparently familiar with the kyuubi, his clone was unprepared for the sight that met him. Naruto hugged the ground, poised on the balls of his feet. Shadows from the fires played across his face, only serving to exaggerate the animalistic snarl presented there beneath slitted red eyes. He skidded to a halt, but Naruto was already on him having seemingly not passed through space between them. The rasengan presented into his stomach made short work of the already depleted composite clone.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the real Shinaryuto moving towards Hinata. The rock beneath his feet shattered as he launched himself towards the nearest wall, taking a roundabout route across the ceiling and down the opposite wall to build up more speed. Shinaryuto prepared himself, but there was possibly nothing that could stop Naruto at that moment as he drove his shoulder into Shinaryuto's chest, following it up with a right hook that sent him flying through the air, before he was stopped abruptly by the cave wall.

Shinaryuto climbed painfully to his feet, and Naruto braced himself to attack again. Something within him clamoured for attention, and he looked down to see the tip of a tanto protruding from his stomach. He spun round sending the clone flying, tanto still in hand, to the ground where it dispelled and disappeared, apparently being the last in the chain. The cave was finally devoid of clones.

Naruto formed the rasengan for the third time, and launched himself at Shinaryuto, who considered attempting to parry the attack, but though better of it at the last moment and dodged, leaving Naruto to plough into the wall in an explosion of dust and debris. The cloud concealed Naruto's approach, and by the time Shinaryuto realised that the impact had done nothing to slow Naruto down it was too late. The rasengan eat into his chest, sending him flying across the cave, landing in a broken heap.

Naruto remained on edge. The dust cleared, and Naruto was able to make out the shape of Shinaryuto's body. The body started to move. With a crack, a knee bent itself back to the correct angle. Shinaryuto head rotated almost 180 degrees to face forwards, and he stood up. The hole in his chest was framed with a twisted mass of gory entangled sinew and muscle that writhed around grotesquely as it sought to reform.

"Well," he began calmly, inspecting a mangled hand that was quickly regrowing skin "that actually helps demonstrate the point I was about to make before you interrupted."

* * *

Well, that about wraps up the fight scene. I put the final detains on the rest of the plot earlier, the crux of it will be introduced in the next chapter, probably friday night. Despite being really pleased with how the plot details worked out, after writing this chapter I had a huge crisis of faith about the last two chapters. Is reading about fighting good? Is it boring? Is it just a clone did this... a clone did that? I just have a horrible feeling that it all sucks, y'know?


	6. Chapter 6

Hand signs were being made, and suddenly Naruto was at a loss. The moment's pause cost him, and before he could react Shinaryuto was behind him, interlocking his legs with his own and planting a palm between his shoulder blades that sent him face first into the ground. Naruto felt a stab of chakra discharging on his back, like being punched with a cactus and gasped in pain, inhaling a lungful of dust from the cave floor in the process. He reflexively started coughing, but his chest felt tight and every movement sent pain shooting throughout his body, emanating from the spot on his back where Shinaryuto had struck him. He tried to role over, to keep his face off the ground, but found his arms and legs unresponsive and rigid, as though every muscle was exerting itself independently. Worried about how vulnerable he now was, Naruto cast his eyes upwards anticipating a follow up attack, but instead found Shinaryuto contentedly standing over him.

"You didn't think I could work with Orochimaru for all this time and not pick up a trick or two, did you?" he leered, parting his kimono to reveal a torso devoid of injury. Naruto struggled to respond, but managed only a series of spluttered half-coughs. Silence closed in as Shinaryuto waited patiently for Naruto to accept the futility of trying to speak. "Orochimaru is really not as cleaver as people give him credit for" he continued. "He is under the impression that to live forever requires some preemptive action, some grand jutsu, when really all that is required is to not die."

Naruto returned to struggling against the paralysis that bound his limbs, while Shinaryuto continued his monologue unabated and seemingly oblivious to the lack of attentive audience. "Orochimaru will never find a jutsu to permanently free himself from death, because such a thing cannot exist. To live is to be subject to death. But death can be continuously forestalled, and that is what I intend to do! This is where you come in; you see a person cannot heal him or herself indefinitely, since the healing process itself, whether natural or medical ninjutsu, exhausts the person concerned. To do so would be akin to perpetual motion, and impossible. There must be some external force." He crouched down to be face to face with Naruto. "'External' might be a little misleading – what I want is inside you!" Naruto remained unimpressed. Shinaryuto was not the first to come seeking the power that the nine-tails held, and he wouldn't be the last, although he was the first to bring such misguided notions about the nature of the demon - the nine-tails was a creature of destruction, not healing.

The paralysis was beginning to take its toll; adrenaline drained away and rage began to sour into anxiety, bringing with it awareness of the multitude of cuts and bruises adorning his body. Stubbornness drove him to continue struggling against the jutsu, but for the most part he resigned himself to lying prone on the cold rock beneath him, while Shinaryuto continued. "You know that Orochimaru was a member of Akatsuki, and that Akatsuki have been collecting the tailed beasts for some time now, don't you? Well, that's where I come in. My specialty, as you've already witnessed, is sealing jutsu. Now, to seal a tailed beast in anything other than a jinchuuriki is an immense task, which is why human sacrifices have always been the vessel of choice, but to transfer from one host to another..."

This caught Naruto's attention, and he found the paralysis jutsu had worn off enough to allow him to squeeze out a whisper. "You want the nine-tails, the demon fox, inside you?" Naruto tried to choke off the laughter, but found it impossible; the idea that anybody would willingly seek out such a burden was ridiculous. Shock soon gave way to indignation and ignorant of the hypocrisy, Naruto started balling "You think you can just take it?", but Shinaryuto wasn't listening, and walked away as Naruto shouted after him.

Shinaryuto disappeared inside a doorway - possibly the one he'd emerged from originally, Naruto couldn't tell – and moments later a shinobi wearing a sound headband emerged, walked brusquely up to Naruto and knelt down. He grinned sarcastically before whipping out a syringe and jabbing it abruptly into Naruto's neck. Naruto felt a sensation of pressure, followed by warmth. He didn't know if he'd been poisoned or merely sedated, but whatever was going to happen would happen soon. He felt his eyes becoming increasingly heavy and his will to keep them open fade. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of being picked up and carried.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jiraiya found the tunnel he'd been following slowly widen, until at last he emerged from a cave mouth to find himself in a scenic valley halfway up a mountain. He blinked as he tried to get accustomed to the light, and squinted at his surroundings. The area was peaceful and overgrown, with no sign of enemy activity. He realized he was walking through the floor of a now dried up lake, and set out to find the opposite side.

* * *

Naruto awoke, and immediately knew something was wrong. Or different. Everything seemed quiet and subdued, like when you're ill and you spend the time in between trips to the bathroom lying in bed; moments that should have been filled with activity instead made null and void. Peaceful for the wrong reasons.

He opened his eyes and found himself chained to an enormous granite slab, standing center stage in some kind of laboratory. His shirt had been removed; he looked down and found a intricate pattern of interlocking seals and symbols painted over his torso in meticulous detail, emanating from his navel. The cold stone pressed against his back exacerbated his already aching muscles, and he felt weak and lightheaded.

Naruto looked around him. The room's furniture and equipment - glassware stacked neatly on shelves, strange machinery, filing cabinets, piles of scrolls – had been pushed back to clear floor space in front of him to make room for an enormous ornate octagon to be chalked out in front of him, annotated with various kanji at critical points. Exploring the design led his eyes to the far corner of the room, where he was horrified to see Hinata, unconscious and slumped against an obelisk of what would have looked like bamboo, if bamboo grew to be several feet wide in perfect rectangles. Her arms and legs had been tied together, and her face had started to bruise.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried out. She stirred a little so he shouted again and started trying to get free of the chains that bound him.

"Naruto?" Hinata whispered. She tried to move, but quickly realized her situation and started to become alarmed. The ropes dug into her skin, and she couldn't feel her hands and feet. She looked around to find the source of Naruto's voice. Naruto's concern was rewarded as he watched the fear melt from her eyes once she found him.

"Hinata, are you alright?" he asked urgently, but before she could respond a pair of sound ninja rushed into the room, alerted by Naruto's raised voice. They marched up to Hinata who started wriggling and squirming when they made to pick her up but her bound hands and feet made escape impossible. The enemy ninja struggled to position themselves so as to be able to move her, until Hinata threw herself backwards with lightning speed before straightening her legs and planted both feet squarely on th face of one of her attackers. As he fell backwards clutching his jaw, his partner responded with a right hook to the side of her head. For a moment she lay motionless with closed eyes, but any thoughts that she was unconscious were banished by the look of determination on her face – chakra was focused and intensified, and Hinata activated her Byakugan. They roughly picked her up without resistance, and moved towards the door as Hinata started calling out to Naruto;

"I can't find Jiraiya, but I also can't see many guards. There's a prison block underneath this room, but it's empty. There's nothing but rock above us." Hinata strained to increase her range, trying to give Naruto as much information as she could before she was taken. "There's a passage from here that leads to some living quarters, but only a few of them looked lived in. They have a lot of supplied stored in most of the rooms, but I think that... Wait! I can see Sasuke! He's training in a room at the far end of the living complex. I can't see if..." she was cut when the guards slammed the door after them. Naruto screamed threats and obscenities at them until he was horse, but the door remained closed.


End file.
